The Boyertown Area School District on Jan. 13 received a technical briefing on PFAS testing and remediation after a detection at Gilbertsville Elementary.

Jeremy Crum, vice president of environmental services for Suburban Water Technology, told the board that Pennsylvania’s PFAS rule (adopted in 2023) sets maximum contaminant levels of 18 parts per trillion for PFOS and 14 parts per trillion for PFOA. Crum said the district’s running annual average for PFOA at Gilbertsville is currently 8.4 parts per trillion, below the Pennsylvania standard. He added that federal Environmental Protection Agency limits proposed under the Safe Drinking Water Act are stricter (about 4 ppt for PFOS and PFOA) and are expected to be phased into state programs in coming years.

Crum described two DEP‑approved treatment approaches: carbon filtration and anion‑exchange resin. He said anion resin requires less physical footprint and, in his view, is the better fit for Gilbertsville because the school already has a water softening pretreatment. He estimated that engineering, permitting, installation and materials for a typical elementary‑school 20‑gallons‑per‑minute system run about $30,000 and that replacement media (resin canisters) are roughly $4,000 apiece when spent. Crum outlined the permit timeline: the district’s engineer can prepare a construction permit application in three to four weeks, DEP review can take up to 180 days, installation typically requires four to six weeks after permit issuance, and DEP inspection/operational approval another two to three weeks.

Board members and the public pressed for more detail about the source of contamination — including an older landfill near the wellfield — and whether connecting the school to a public water main would be a more cost‑effective long‑term fix. Administration said it had already contacted PEnvest (the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority) about funding opportunities and had reached out to Aqua (the public supplier) for preliminary hookup estimates; those cost estimates were not yet available.

Dr. David Heizer, the superintendent, said the district will post quarterly PFAS testing results online and pursue further cost comparisons and grant options. He asked Suburban Water Technology to provide a breakdown of carbon versus resin costs, the exact number and size of tanks needed, and projected replacement cycles under local water chemistry so the board can evaluate whether to proceed proactively ahead of future EPA limits.

A member of the public, Brian Langdon, urged the district to improve transparency and to notify parents promptly when any sample exceeds a limit, even when the running annual average remains below the state MCL.